Chapter Text
It all starts on one of their obligatory movie and game nights with all eight of them present, in the beginning of their new winter semester with the weather growing colder. Ok, maybe things don’t quite start there. It’s a long story – really, since it’s all in the small things in life. Maybe the whole thing is something that has been building up for a while and finds its slow burst today.
Either way it will make Seungmin feel responsible somehow.
Their bi-weekly movie and game nights (“MG events”, Changbin had dubbed them in one of his improvised raps once and after everyone else made fun of it, they deemed it fancy enough to actually use) are usually organised in their group chat for every two weeks minimum, because it’s hard to have eight young adults in the same place with all their different schedules at once. It is one of the reasons it was implemented in the first place.
As rowdy as they can be sometimes, their well-rounded friend group consists of eight versatile boys: Bang Chan, Lee Minho, Seo Changbin, Hwang Hyunjin, Han Jisung, Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin and Yang Jeongin.
Usually they choose which apartment or dorm to go to and the rest, who aren’t the hosts, have to bring snacks or some form of entertainment. (Felix always brings his Nintendo Switch. Jisung thinks it’s unfair because he doesn’t even have to be creative about it.) These get-togethers, next to entertainment purposes, are also used to catch up on each other’s lives and anything else the boys want to talk about with everyone, whether it be worries or advice.
Basically: friendship time.
The whole thing had been Chan and Jeongin’s idea. Although Jeongin has been saying he regrets ever bringing it up, everyone lowkey knows he’s just being tsundere about it.
Of course, they meet outside of their all-8-get-togethers as well, just more often in smaller groups since that’s usually easier to plan (or not plan, if spontaneous). While they do have friends outside of their core friend group as eight, it is often easy to find one of them by the side of at least one other member of their core friend group.
Whether it be Changbin, Jisung and Felix going clothes shopping together and talking about things like ‘dark’; Chan, Changbin, Minho and Jeongin working out in the for-students-free campus gym; Minho and Jeongin going to the ice cream parlour near campus on hot summer days or raid the supermarket freezer to eat ice cream at home on colder days; Hyunjin and Seungmin having little picnics in the park when the weather allows it; Chan, Changbin and Jisung working on music together either in the studio or at either of their homes if they’re not too distracted by goofing around together; Jisung and Felix visiting comic book stores and buying either nothing or a whole shelf worth of manga; Aussie-line Chan and Felix training at the boxing gym down the block of their apartment complex (sometimes Minho joins and drags Hyunjin along as his assistant); Changbin and Seungmin surprise-hugging each other on campus, depending on who spots the other first (also, Jisung trying to join the fun but never quite succeeding); Hyunjin and Seungmin making Jeongin join them to a trip to an amusement park because they want to spoil the youngest, or making Minho join them in eating late night snacks because they want to spend time with him ruin his diet; the roommates Chan, Minho, Changbin and Hyunjin going to a few clubs and parties here and there if specifically invited by their mutual friends outside their core friend group; and so on and more.
A special mention to Minho and Jisung who are the most common sub-combination; almost always seen together inter alia in coffee shops, cafés, in shared free periods anywhere around campus and free time at home. And if they are seen standing a little too close, touching a little too much or staring at each other for a little too long – lost in their own little world – then no one will voluntarily disturb Minho and Jisung (but someone may tease the two about it after).
In conclusion the eight of them spend a lot of time together, whether it be cosy days at home or going out somewhere. Their bi-weekly MG events are the 99% guarantee to catch all eight of them together in one place.
This fateful night their MG event is hosted in Felix’s and Seungmin’s shared apartment off campus. While Felix is quite excited for it as usual, Seungmin isn’t necessarily looking forward to all the cleaning up they’d have to do after. Not that Felix ever looks forward to cleaning, he just… puts that thought off for later.
With the living room full of eight university students, snacks, board- and videogames and half empty pizza boxes, it seems like one of their usual MG events. Felix, Changbin and Hyunjin are sprawled on the floor, focused on finishing each other off in Smash Bros on the TV. Chan, Jeongin and Seungmin, on the left side of the L-shaped couch, are talking about recent news and their classes. Minho and Jisung are quiet, laid back and leaning against each other on the right corner of the couch, watching the gaming trio’s round and exchanging whispers here and there, while Jisung nibbles on some pizza and Minho snacks on popcorn.
None of them know what’s to come.
Especially Seungmin. All he wants in that moment is to bring up an interesting topic to talk about.
“Hey,” Seungmin innocently starts – really, he has pure intentions – as he takes some popcorn from the bag in Minho’s lap, who is conveniently seated right next to him, “Who do you think has the best chemistry in our group of friends?”
Of course, he has already thought about it before.
The first obvious option: Minho and Jisung. The two call each other their soulmate, share a special (weird) kind of humour and interests, and spend most of their time together even though they have different majors in university and hobbies. Plus, whenever Jisung is feeling any type of negative emotion, he usually ends up going to Minho after he seeks comfort in everyone else. Jisung had explained once; the two rarely ever talk about whatever it is that bothers him, because somehow, he feels like Minho understands him without having to explain it.
All in all, Minho’s presence alone is like a battery charger for Jisung’s soul. Although the two seek each other out for any mood, really. Or more like, they naturally gravitate towards each other at all times – okay, not all the time, since they do have periods where they spend little to no time together, but it usually never lasts long.
Technically Seungmin could write an entire essay about their dynamic – for his own sanity he will never do that. Look, as observant as Seungmin is, he only notices those things about Minho and Jisung because they’re simply hard to ignore. Nobody needs to be super observant for this one. And no, they’re not dating, even if that is often assumed.
It’s simply… chemistry.
Let’s move on before Seungmin gets a headache.
Next: Hyunjin and Jisung are also interesting because they had started off from going friendly to hating each other's guts (long story for another day) to now being unofficial best friends (but all eight of them are official best friends, mind you). They still fight sometimes but no matter the quarrel, they’re always fine and ready to have fun together. Changbin and Felix are fun to see together too since they’re both pretty blatant with their affection and Felix is, according to himself, a confident bisexual who has set his eyes on Changbin as his ideal type. Or the two Australians Chan and Felix, who share a deep bond as well, always wanting to make a good impression on the other.
Other options may be: Changbin and Hyunjin? Chan and Minho? Chan and Jeongin? Hyunjin and Jeongin? In general, Jeongin’s dynamic with all of them can be summarised like this: the youngest who has a similar authority to the oldest. A cutie who everyone – even strangers, probably – would kill for to protect. If Jeongin tells you to shut up, you shut up; If Jeongin tells you to stop fighting, you stop fighting – although it depends on how serious of a request it is.
Felix and Seungmin himself are interesting too. As roommates, they are together almost all the time and always know how to make the other happy – as mushy as it sounds. Not quite sure on who has the best chemistry but pretty sure it can’t be him paired with either Changbin or Minho. That… That is just unrealistic. And chaotic. (He loves his hyungs still.)
As you can see Seungmin has thought deeply about this. He has theories for each possible coupling. It’s not usually his topic of interest but surprisingly, he had fun thinking about it anyway.
Their group of eight, Seungmin cheesily admits in his mind, do have amazing chemistry together and he cherishes each of his friends.
Maybe the others will have similar opinions.
The gaming trio seems too focused on the videogame to pay attention, but the rest seem to at least think about it. With curiosity, Seungmin waits for their answers.
“Is this because of your theatre elective with Professor Choi this semester?” Chan asks as he leans back to look at the ceiling in thought. Seungmin hums positively.
Chan’s opinion will probably make the most sense; he’s great at keeping their big friend group going, knows each of them really well and is basically their unspoken leader. He not only brought them together but keeps them together. Also, he’s the one that recommended that theatre course to him as he had taken part in it the semester before.
Jeongin perks up at that, “Oh, right! You know, Seungmin hyung and I ended up as partners in that course because the professor thought our chemistry was so natural and easy going. All he did was bug me the whole time. What’s easy going about that?”
“Maybe she likes the push and pull. I actually thought she would partner me with Hyunjin…” Seungmin trails off, remembering. Him, Jeongin and Hyunjin all choose that theatre course as an elective extra this semester and since students of any major and any semester can be put together for electives like this, they thought it would be fun. Although the fun stopped for Hyunjin when he had to partner with some random girl, because Seungmin and Jeongin were partnered by their professor, leaving him alone. He’s probably still bitter about that.
Having heard his name, Hyunjin turns around, videogame forgotten, “Huh, are you talking about me?”
“The question is who has the best chemistry in our friend group,” Chan tells him as he adjusts to sit more comfortably, still in thought. Seems like he takes Seungmin’s question serious enough to put genuine thought into it, “Like, the ones who fit each other the most…?”
“Ohh,” Hyunjin grins, happily meeting eyes with Seungmin who automatically smiles back at the eagerness, “Seungmin and me!”
“That’s not what our theatre professor said thooough,” Jeongin sings and sticks out his tongue at the older on the floor. With a wide smile, he presses himself against Seungmin, who then throws an arm around his shoulders only to get pushed off again with a laugh.
“Push and pull…”, Seungmin sighed quietly, shaking his head fondly at the youngest.
Before Hyunjin’s pout can turn into a full lecture on why Seungmin and him have the best chemistry, Changbin puts the controller down as Felix cheers in victory. It seems Changbin has actually been listening but Hyunjin just forgot to pay attention, so it became Felix’s chance to win (although he would’ve won anyway, probably).
“I think it’s Jisung and Minho hyung,” Changbin comments over his shoulder, gesturing at the two in the corner of the L-shaped couch right behind him with a smirk, “The two are always together and have their eyes on each other. They even win all our games of charade if they’re in the same team because they know each other so well. By the way, I’m still for banning them from teaming up.”
The two in question look up in surprise at being addressed, their private bubble bursting, not really having paid much attention until then. In the corner Felix smiles warmly at the two of them, most likely agreeing with every statement in favour of the chemistry between Minho and Jisung.
“Woah, that’s actually a thought through answer. I didn’t expect that from you, Changbin hyung!” Seungmin gasps, acting more shocked than he is to tease and ignoring Changbin’s responding groan to turn to Minho and Jisung who hadn’t said anything yet, “So? What do you think?”
“They’re basically dating, the way they are. Just need to make it official,” Hyunjin adds with a nonchalant smirk to Changbin’s short explanation from his place on the floor, prettily resting his chin on his propped-up elbow on the corner of the couch, “They like each other so much that it’s annoying sometimes.”
Minho only smiles a little and shrugs, not complaining but neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Typical for him though as he does not seem to take the conversation seriously anyway. While Jisung’s frown and light blush indicate the opposite.
With Minho quiet, Jisung takes the cue to answer their friends, “Come on, it’s not like that at all. It’s not that I like Minho hyung. It’s not that serious, I just play with him. He’s entertaining, that’s all.” Jisung’s voice a little too humourless for the conversation. As if wanting to show that he means his words, he moves away from Minho a little and sits up straight. Seungmin sees Minho glance at the space between them and then at Jisung with a momentary pout, before looking down at his bag of popcorn again as if to hide that he did not like Jisung’s response.
Indeed, Minho looks a little… hurt?
Oh my, Seungmin blinks at the sudden feeling of protectiveness washing over him – and for Minho of all people too. He turns his eyes to Jisung, looking over Minho between them, and raises a brow at his for-some-reason-offended tone, “Play with him? What are you? Five? Calm down.”
Hyunjin scoffs and moves his hands vaguely like they help the explanation, “Jisung, you guys are always off in your own world. Third wheeling anyone is bad, but third wheeling you two is terrible. Of course, you like him. You even call him your soulmate.”
Distracting himself by throwing popcorn into the air and catching them in his mouth, Minho does not seem to particularly care about taking part in the on-going conversation at all anymore. He simply chuckles quietly at Hyunjin’s words and arguments, but it seems rather forced.
In the end Minho stops playing and his eyes stay on the bag of popcorn in his lap.
Unlike Hyunjin, Seungmin is not so sure about Jisung’s feelings and finds that whatever Jisung feels for whoever is, in the end, his own business. Same for everyone else.
Admittedly he does agree with Hyunjin’s other statements (like their natural chemistry and the third-wheeling thing, it can be seriously bad sometimes with Minho and Jisung and they don’t even do it on purpose), but they have no hard facts whether Jisung and Minho actually like each other in a romantic way or are just, well, platonically like that.
While Seungmin could logically believe either to be possible, he’s never been the type to care enough about romance to make assumptions.
Sensing an upcoming escalation of things, Seungmin chances a glance at Chan, hoping he would intervene, but the other is only frowning thoughtfully at the scene as he lets the conversation further unfold.
Jisung on the other hand seems more and more offended the longer it goes on, eyebrows furrowed and arms crossed on his chest, “I don’t agree. None of that has to mean anything serious like that. Minho hyung and I are never serious about anything. You make no sense, Hyunjin!”
“That’s all? No actual arguments or evidence to support your case?” Hyunjin raises a brow at him, mocking a microphone by reaching his arm out towards Jisung on the couch.
Glowering, Jisung keeps quiet.
It makes Hyunjin scoff again and drop his arm, both boys genuinely annoyed by the other at this point, “Just admit it, Han Jisung. I’ll give you the top spot for best chemistry with Minho hyung, everyone here and in the world will agree.”
Jisung narrows his eyes at the other, “Don’t be fucking weird. I have nothing to admit, Hwang Hyunjin. Maybe you do? You must be projecting.”
“Unlike you, I can confess my feelings right here right now. If you stop being in denial about Minho hyung.”
“I am not in denial about Minho hyung!”
“Lying to yourself isn’t healthy.”
“I’m not lying to myself!”
It turns into a silent glaring contest, while the rest watches on edge.
In that moment Minho warily inches further away from Jisung, widening the distance that was opened by Jisung before, and coming closer to Seungmin instead. If Jisung notices he doesn’t show it.
Felix and Jeongin are looking on in obvious worry at the seemingly sudden escalation of everything. It’s not the first time Jisung and Hyunjin ‘discuss’… The Minho And Jisung Thing… but it’s the first time they do it in front of Minho, and in such a heated manner.
Sure, they all make jokes about literally any of them liking or dating each other all the time, but this isn’t how it looks like when it’s a joke.
Whatever Jisung feels might be his own business, but that doesn’t mean Seungmin won’t want to protect his friends from getting hurt. So right now, Seungmin just wants to protect Minho, who seems so visibly uncomfortable at being the topic of the argument that he unconsciously seeks comfort in Seungmin’s presence by softly pressing his arm against his. This is (very) unusual of him so the more it worries Seungmin.
They have to shut up – Hyunjin and Jisung.
Suddenly Seungmin and Chan move at the same time to interrupt whatever tension is rising between Jisung and Hyunjin, but before either of them can say anything, it’s Changbin trying to dispel the tense air instead.
Always as shocking and revolting as the first time, he speaks – more like sings – in his cutesy voice as he puts on all his charms, fluttering his lashes at everyone from his seat on the floor, “Hey, you know what, all of us have great chemistry, we wouldn’t be such good friends otherwise. I like, no, I love all of you. If any of you try to escape my love, you’ll be in trouble!”
Awkward silence.
“Now… give me some hugs!” Clinging onto Minho’s knee and shaking it in a weird attempt to hug has Minho spluttering at the surprise, making a motion to hit Changbin.
Last minute Minho decides otherwise and pets Changbin’s hair instead, showing his amusement and that he’s grateful after all.
Thankfully, Changbin’s antics make everyone cringe and snap out of the tension before bursting into laughter. He even gets a few couch pillows thrown his way. Changbin just laughs even harder at that. The comfortable atmosphere comes back again just like that.
And Jeongin, who has been looking constipated half-way through the conversation, looks the most relieved for some reason.
But Seungmin does not miss the way Chan keeps a watchful gaze on Minho and Jisung, the way Changbin’s eyes keep lingering on Minho and the way Jisung and Minho can’t look into each other’s eyes for more than a second for the rest of the night, avoidant. Jisung still seems bothered. Hyunjin on the other hand seems carefree as if he forgot about the tension before already despite actively being part of the cause.
Throughout the rest of the night Changbin seems to try extra hard at making Minho laugh (even if at his own expense, as usual). At some point Minho joins Changbin on the floor to goof off.
Sometime later, when the two end up sharing a blanket through the movie they put on and a sleepy Felix is sprawled across their laps, Jisung keeps stealing glances at them.
A sulking Jisung has wiggled himself between Seungmin and Hyunjin on the couch, demanded they share their blanket with him. Not that Seungmin minds (Hyunjin does).
It’s obvious that Jisung doesn’t even pay attention to the movie. At least not as much as he does to the way Minho and Changbin whisper and laugh quietly between scenes, while Felix gets gentle pets from both like an overgrown cat. Admittedly Seungmin himself can’t pay proper attention to the movie with Jisung shifting the whole time to ‘secretly’ get proper looks at the boys on the floor.
The situation has been causing Hyunjin and Seungmin to exchange meaningful glances above Jisung’s head between them. Until at some point Hyunjin seems fed up with it. He quietly tells Jisung to just join Minho, Changbin and Felix on the floor instead of “staring like a bitter toddler”. Quietly, because the rest of their friends are actually watching the movie.
The response is ironically loud. Jisung startles and ends up yelling at Hyunjin to stop being so loud since they’re watching a movie. Great.
Chan sighs, tired but not surprised, while Jeongin and Felix give Hyunjin and Jisung both a look of disapproval. Changbin and Minho barely spare them a glance before whispering and quietly laughing again, maybe even about them. All in all, they all care more about the movie than their spat.
On the other hand, poor offended Hyunjin switches between shocked blinking at Jisung and looking at Seungmin as if to ask ‘Do you witness this bullshit?’ – Seungmin only shrugs as a response.
Funny enough it (somehow?) works out, Jisung turns his glare one last time to Minho, Changbin and Felix – no, he hasn’t looked at Felix, really, has he? – before resolutely staring at the TV. Although they all cuddle with each other all the time, Seungmin feels like what bothers Jisung the most right now is proximity between Minho and Changbin, the two cuddling. What bothers him about Minho’s head on Changbin’s shoulder, after that whole fiasco from before anyway? But it’s fine now, everyone’s watching the movie – more or less.
Everything is back to normal, kind of, but not, at the same time.
Seungmin is nothing, if not observant. Something smells really foul here. There’s been a shift in the air surrounding them; he just doesn’t know what that means yet.
Later when everyone gets ready to leave and help Felix and Seungmin clean up their apartment a little, Seungmin bumps into Chan in the kitchen doorway.
They both apologise at the same time. Seungmin was going to continue speeding out to clean up more so he can go to sleep faster but stops himself. All night he has been curious about what Chan had been thinking about and so, he asks him.
“I was thinking about your question and accidently ended up in a rabbit hole of theories,” Chan chuckles in response, sheepishly rubbing his neck with both hands, “Why? You look worried.”
“Oh,” Seungmin nods thoughtfully, “You see, I think something changed but I don’t know what for sure. I think it’s my fault… my question made Hyunjin and Jisung fight after all…” Without realising, Seungmin sports his trademark puppy eyes.
Chan just chuckles again, a little softer this time and it sounds all-knowing in that moment. “It’s not your fault at all. And if we think of the same thing, then that change was long overdue anyway. It’ll sort itself out, don’t worry about it.” With that he pats his shoulder and leaves him standing there after he takes a paper roll from the kitchen.
Long overdue? What was?
Guess Seungmin will just have to trust Chan’s words on this.
Sure, the night had taken a weird course, but it ended up comfortable again, right? No way whatever this was would end up an actual bother in the long run.
Seungmin shakes his head.
Something just feels off.
Before Seungmin can walk back to the living room where all the others are, he hears quiet shuffling and whispering in the hallway. Not usually one for snooping around, he still instinctively takes a step back into the kitchen. The narrow hallway’s lights are off, the way only illuminated by the lights from the doorway to the kitchen where Seungmin is and the living room on the other side further down the hallway.
Jisung can be heard grumbling loudly, “What did you pull me here for, hyung?”
“Shh, not so loud,” Minho shushes Jisung, voice quiet, “I just wanna know why you keep glaring at me. At least let me know if I did something. You had your eyes glued to me the entire night, Jisung. Changbin even–”
“Of course. Changbin hyung,” Jisung groans. Seungmin can imagine he has to hold himself back from yelling by the annoyed tone. “What? He doesn’t like me looking at you?”
“No. What the hell, Changbin was just worried about you and asked me to talk to you,” Minho sounds pissed off at first but continues in a gentle tone, “What’s up with you? Is something wrong?”
A long, defeated sigh by Jisung. “No… It’s nothing. Honestly I don’t even know. Sorry for that.”
A hum. Minho’s voice becomes quieter, “Look at me, Jisungie.”
In the following silence, Seungmin sneaks a careful curious glance into the hallway.
In the barely illuminated hallway, Seungmin can only properly see their side profiles thanks to the light streaming from the living room down the hall. Jisung is leaning against the wall, a foot propped up on it behind him, arms crossed and frowning at the ground between them. Minho stands close in front of him, not blocking his way but the tension seems high enough to keep both of them locked in place.
When Jisung still refuses to look up, Minho reaches out to put his hand on Jisung’s cheek, probably to turn his face to him, but suddenly, before his hand can make contact – as if realising something – he lets his hand fall away and takes a step back, suddenly alert and closed off.
That’s what makes Jisung finally look up at him. “What?” Jisung asks quietly, confused by the sudden distance, their eyes meeting.
Jisung tilts his head at the older.
Then, stepping away from the wall and closing the new distance to stand closer to Minho again, Jisung smirks at him with a raised brow and teasing undertone, “Hyung, if you look at me like that, it’s no wonder people keep misunderstanding, you know.”
Seungmin turns back to hide away in the kitchen and leans against the wall, the atmosphere between the two too intense to keep watching; also Jisung’s cockiness is annoying to see.
Seungmin feels like he should leave, but to leave he has to go through the hallway, and he can’t just take the hallway because Minho and Jisung are there and Seungmin does not want to interrupt them but he doesn’t want to keep (involuntarily) listening either.
It feels like he’s intruding on whatever goes on between them.
“I almost got a little too serious here. My bad,” Minho says, voice flat and void of the worry from before and the apology insincere. Then a sarcastic chuckle that sounds just as fake and flat, “Aren’t we funny.” It’s not a question.
With a weak laugh, Jisung whines quietly, clearly bothered by Minho’s sudden coldness, “Hyung, that means you understood me, right? Hyunjin said some stupid things. It’s so annoying when– Ah.”
A pause. And then a sigh quiet enough that Seungmin almost misses it, “There he goes…”
Sounds like Minho has left first.
By the doorway in the kitchen, leaning against the wall, Seungmin decides to wait for Jisung to leave as well before he wants to go out into the hallway and back to the living room like he originally planned to do. That conversation, not really extraordinary but somehow heavy with tension, wasn’t meant for his ears and he feels a little guilty for having eavesdropped, but he can’t change that now – it was either interrupt them or wait it out so here he is.
Just wait it out and then leave the kitchen–
“Oh, you were here?”
Seungmin startles a little. He turns his head to a surprised and mildly upset-looking Jisung who has just appeared in the doorway. Blinking, Seungmin nods and moves to stand properly. When Jisung is in a bad mood – specifically: genuinely pissed off – it’s no good to talk to him.
So Seungmin is about to sidestep him and make an inconspicuous run for the living room when Jisung stops him by a hand on his shoulder, eyes narrowing. Under the scrutinising eyes of the other, Seungmin rolls his own, “What?”
“Eavesdropping isn’t like you, Seungminnie,” Jisung laughs – there’s an annoyed undertone to it – and turns fully to him, letting his hand drop back down to his side, “You wanted an exclusive scoop on our dating scandal or something?”
“That’s what you said not me,” Seungmin clarifies immediately, not even wanting to go there.
Jisung grins and yet clearly not in the best mood. With a nod he goes over to the cupboards, “If not me, then Hyunjin would’ve. Or Felix. Maybe Changbin hyung. Gotta get the upper hand with the funny one-liners, you know.”
Seungmin ignores the bait to bicker with the other. He watches Jisung investigate the cupboards, probably in search of his favourite cookies. The ones he always eats whenever he has had a bad time and shows up at Seungmin’s and Felix’s doorstep for comfort.
There’s a loud sigh when Jisung realises there are no cookies left, probably all eaten tonight for their get-together, and he wipes an imaginary tear away. “Everything is suddenly annoying me. A cookie would have been nice before leaving. Goodbye, my friend.” With an accepting tight-lipped smile Jisung turns around and waves Seungmin a dramatic goodbye as he leaves the kitchen.
Once he’s alone Seungmin leans against one of the counters with his arms, looks down at it in thought and sighs in relief of the tension.
It’s been such a weird night.
He wants to solely blame Hyunjin and Jisung, but Seungmin feels guilty for accidently having put out the groundwork for this weird development by a simple question about their friend group’s chemistry.
Now, their collective dynamic feels a tad off.
It should be fine. Chan said to leave it be.
Lost in thought, Seungmin thinks he should check up on Minho later. Or maybe he’ll leave that to his hyung’s roommates. Chan will probably–
Suddenly arms wrap around Seungmin’s waist from behind in a warm embrace and startle him out of his thoughts to look at the culprit: Hyunjin, now leaning his chin on his shoulder with a smile. Realising who it is, Seungmin automatically puts his hands on the arms around him and leans back into Hyunjin’s embrace.
Hyunjin’s smile widens when Seungmin properly looks at him, faces close, “Hey, Seungminnie. Chan hyung’s gonna drive Jeongin and Jisung to their dorm now. Changbin hyung and Minho hyung will probably leave a little later since they’re still helping Felix clean up.”
That’s often how it is if they’re not doing a sleepover.
The apartment shared by Chan, Changbin, Minho and Hyunjin is on the same street as Felix’s and Seungmin’s apartment, while the dorms, where Jeongin and Jisung live, are located further away and closer to campus. Seungmin thanks him for letting him know, averting his eyes again.
Hyunjin nuzzles closer, smile turning into a pout, “By the way, because of Jisung, I didn’t get to cuddle you today. Mind letting me sleep over and cuddle with you?”
“Sure,” he shrugs, mind wandering off again as he looks back down on the counter as if it holds the answers to his questions.
There’s something miniscule but vital that Seungmin is missing here to understand what’s changed and what that change means.
Whatever. Sleep it off and forget it.
The next morning, after going through the events of last night through his head like a long flashback – 7:19 o’clock after six hours of sleep, at the kitchen table with Felix, eating breakfast – is when Seungmin realises that whatever happened last night must be major in some way. He just can’t put it together.
“Why do you look like you’re holding in a bad fart?”
Seungmin snaps out of his horrified stare at the wall as he looks at Felix. In all his sleepy morning glory, Felix gives him a questioning look. They’re both already dressed properly but Felix hasn’t taken care of his hair yet; blond hair sticking up in a fluffy mess.
Quickly going through the possible consequences of confiding in Felix about this matter, he ends up deciding to consult his blond friend. “I think last night changed something for us,” Seungmin admits in a grave tone, “But I have no idea what’s going on.”
The words vague enough that Felix tenses up a little, his sleepy eyes widening a fraction as he pushes his chair closer to the table to lean his body closer to Seungmin who sits opposite him. Seungmin wants to tell him that he doesn’t have to do that since it’s just the two of them. It’s not like Seungmin’s going to whisper the issue and Hyunjin is still asleep in his bed anyway – lucky bastard.
But that’s not important right now.
He takes a deep breath.
“Because of my question about our chemistry, everything escalated. Jisung and Hyunjin had that fight, right? We joke all the time about one of us crushing on the other or something, but that was the first time it escalated so quickly and into something kind of serious. Everyone seemed so weird after that even though we all got comfortable again. Technically. But not really, you know? Hyunjin brushed it off pretty easily, but Minho hyung and Jisung… Minho hyung looked hurt by it and Jisung stayed bitter for the rest of the night – I accidently overheard them talking and, I mean, nothing unusual was said but something about it felt meaningful. After that Jisung even looked for his favourite cookies – you know what that means, Felix! Ugh… at least Changbin hyung made sure to cheer Minho hyung up… although Jisung didn’t seem to like the sight of it? Maybe you noticed. Changbin hyung must have had a feeling of protectiveness too, like me. Weird, right? We felt like we had to protect Minho hyung of all people. That’s… Hey, don’t you think something has become super weird after that whole fiasco about my stupid chemistry question? I’m… I guess, I’m just worried, Felix.”
Wow. That came close one of Changbin’s high speed raps.
Seungmin catches his breath and looks up at Felix.
There is silence.
Felix blinks a couple times, processing the word vomit Seungmin just unleashed on him. He brushes a hand through his blond hair. To be fair, it has been about four years since Felix arrived in Korea from Australia, so his brain is probably trying to catch up with translating everything – it’s the bilingual way of life. Felix’s Korean is pretty fluent (he even uses bigger words than the rest of them do), but still, Seungmin should have spoken a little slower. A little less.
Wanting to say something and then deciding against it, Felix opens his mouth and closes it multiple times.
Finally, he clears his throat.
“Look…” Felix carefully starts, wringing his hands in front of him as he’s trying to get his thoughts in order and out his mouth, “I don’t think anything much will change… and, uh, if it does, I mean, uh… maybe it’s time for something to happen to give the final push to set, uh, things into motion? Like… not a lot will change. Probably.” Felix pauses, then corrects himself, “Well, maybe for the better – if luck is with us… but I don’t think you have to worry too much, Seungminnie. I mean, Minho hyung is strong. Physically and mentally, too. He’ll be fine. And if need be, we’ll take care of him like he always cares for us, too. Jisung and Hyunjin are like, I dunno, best frenemies or something. And simple minded enough about their petty fights that they’re both probably over it already.”
Throughout the speech, Seungmin has been nodding his head. Still does so, when he says, “I guess you’re right. I don’t know, I think I accidently went into overthinking-mode with this whole thing.” He gently slaps his own cheeks a few times. “Thanks, ‘Lix.”
They exchange warm smiles.
Felix is relieved to have cheered up his friend, nodding to himself and mentally patting his own shoulder. He is glad that Seungmin feels better now and proud to have handled it so well. But since they’re already here, he might as well add his own two cents on the matter.
“Personally,” Felix says, putting a hand on his chest with a lot of feeling, all gentleness from before gone and ready to go all out on the topic, “I think Jisungie was just a little sensitive yesterday, but you know he’s easy to rile up anyway. Unfortunately, I think he will still be in denial about his feelings for a while. But he needs to get his shit together,” He clenches the hand on his chest into a fist and with the other he wipes away an imaginary tear, meaning every word, “Our squad’s sweet designated heartthrob Minho hyung deserves a cute love story! Not only is he good flirt, he’s sweet and fun too. And just the way he looks at Jisung… Wow. I am kind of surprised Jisung hasn’t gotten the message that Minho hyung likes him too yet. How oblivious can one be?”
Seungmin frowns as he leans back in his seat, the slowly fading worry turning into judgement at his friend’s choice of words – Squad? Designated heartthrob? Come on.
Whatever. “Well, Minho hyung flirts with all of us. For fun. It’s probably like a reflex for him at this point. I don’t know about Jisung’s denial but if I were Jisung I wouldn’t notice anything either. Did Minho hyung tell you that he likes Jisung that way or why did you bring it up?”
You see… Lee Minho: if you are not close with him, he looks like the unapproachable type because of his intimidating aura and handsome visuals. But if you start talking to him, he’s actually soft-spoken, friendly and even a little shy! And then if you get closer to him, he’ll often be confident, flirty and sassy. But don’t be fooled by that too much; at heart he is still sweet, soft and kind of timid. If you successfully make it into his heart, he’s the type to care about you a lot, though quietly if he can help it. A bit of tsundere – avid anime fans, like their group of friends would use as a descriptor. Someone with great duality. Also, Minho is the only one of their so-called tsundere-line (apparently: Minho, Seungmin, Jeongin) accepting the title for himself.
“No, he didn’t tell me outright… He’s different with Jisung! It’s all in the details, mate.”
“Well, whether Minho hyung likes Jisung or not, I don’t know. I never know what’s going on in Minho hyung’s head and I don’t want to try finding out, so whatever. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“It’ll be fine,” Felix says, waving his hands as if he could wave away Seungmin’s worries, “If Jisung ends up rejecting Minho hyung, I’m still available. We get along great and he treats me well. I wouldn’t say no to dating Minho hyung.”
“Hyung might say no to dating you though… although now that you say it, he does have a soft spot for you,” Seungmin narrows his eyes at memories about special treatment and thinks he has had enough realisations for today.
Minho really is sweet to Felix, barely ever even roasts him – barely doesn’t mean never, but when it happens, it’s pretty mild compared to what the rest of them get. They go to dog and cat cafés together at least once in a while and Felix sleeps over at Minho’s apartment (shared with Chan, Changbin and Hyunjin) frequently as well. They go to the same dance studio after classes with Hyunjin and last semester they had joined the archery club together with Hyunjin as well. Well, Hyunjin makes it a trio, but Minho doesn’t treat Hyunjin like Felix.
Once, Hyunjin had told Seungmin that it’s like this: Hyunjin is Minho’s prey most of the time while Felix is like a pet cat all the time. When Seungmin had asked what exactly he meant by that, Hyunjin just let out a long-suffering sigh and shook his head.
Either way, now that he thinks about it, it’s not that special; considering it is Felix. Their Yongbok. Everyone is sweet to Felix. Have you met him?
“Yup!” Felix dreamily smiles, resting his chin on his palms propped on the table, “But I think Jisung and Minho hyung are cute together. You know, with their whole soulmate thing.” Then his smile drops. “Jisung better get his shit together,” his naturally deep voice emphasises in English, which must mean business – especially paired with that glint in his eyes.
“You seem… unnecessarily passionate about their love life.”
“I am. Necessarily.”
Seungmin slowly nods, simply accepting Felix’s antics. At least he feels lighter after sharing his worries with Felix. Now that he talked things through with Felix, he wonders why he even worried so much in the first place. Everything’s fine!
When Felix slides out of his seat to put away the dirty dishes as they’re both done with their breakfast a few minutes later, Felix asks, “Aren’t you similar when it comes to Hyunjin though?”
As if on cue, Seungmin feels warm arms wrap around his shoulders from behind and a chin gently put on his head, “Seungminnie, you could’ve woken me up, you know? Were you gonna leave without a goodbye?” And Seungmin hears the pout in Hyunjin’s voice.
Before he can respond to Hyunjin, he accidently meets Felix’s eyes again as he turns back around from the dishwasher. He has his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised in a See what I mean? kind of way but Seungmin doesn’t see what he means so he just blinks back in confusion.
Felix rolls his eyes and sighs loudly, “Just get ready, we gotta leave in 10. Chan hyung texted that he wants to leave a little earlier today.”
Seungmin nods. “Sure.”
“Once I get my driver’s license and a car, I can drive you around too,” Hyunjin loosens his gentle wrap on his shoulders to properly look at Seungmin with a sleepy grin and hair still messy.
“That would be a waste of gas. Why would we need two drivers when we have Chan hyung already? He already does the job.”
Felix groans loudly in the hallway. Hyunjin sighs, “Right, right.”
Free time for lunch is always beautiful – sitting down in the cafeteria with friends, catching up, filling empty stomachs, and taking a break from classes before the next one starts.
“Let’s agree to never have our MG events on Sundays ever again,” Chan groans as he sits down with Changbin and Minho at their usual lunch table, “I hate morning classes. Every semester I get morning classes on Mondays…” So far, poor Chan is in his fourth semester and consecutively had Monday morning classes in every one of them.
“Jeongin wanted to meet up yesterday so badly. Poor first semester kid needed it. You could’ve stopped us though, so that one’s on you,” Changbin says as he puts on one of his earphones for music and starts to eat his lunch.
Chan feels kind of offended at the logic but vaguely agrees with the statement anyway.
“At least our free time between classes matches up this semester again so we can have lunch together,” Minho steals a cooked veggie from Changbin’s plate, earning a food-muffled hey!, “We can suffer together on three out of five days in the week!” He cheers happily, his friends unsure whether the cute act is on purpose or not.
As mentioned, Chan in his fourth semester, while Changbin and Minho are in their third. Third semester Changbin majors in music production with a minor in finance – shocking, yes, but he is a bit of math genius and his parents like him there. Chan, together with second semester Jisung, majors in music production as well. All three of them love and produce their own music. They even created their own unit to work together: 3RACHA. Chan is also part of the university’s swimming club and has a part-time job at a local radio station. In other words: Chan is a busy man.
(Hyunjin used to be part of the swimming club, too, but ditched Chan for dance – no, Chan is not mad.)
“Our professor brought a cat to class today! It was amazing. Let me show you some photos and videos I took, hold on,” grinning bright, Minho pulls his smartphone out of his blue jean jacket pocket in barely contained excitement.
Chan sees Changbin’s inner battle with himself in his expression: lips quirking up and assessing Minho, Changbin isn’t sure whether he wants to coo at his friend or bully him.
Ah, he settles for middle ground. “Aww, you two are so cute, hyung!” he trails off with a smile, looking at the selfie Minho took together with the cat, before he turns his face to Minho with a playfully grim expression, “… cheating on Soonie, Doongie and Dori.”
Genuinely scandalised, Minho widens his eyes, “Huh?! I would never, you fiend!”
As the two bicker among themselves, Chan takes Minho’s phone to look at the photos he took of the mentioned cat and Minho, satisfied with at least one of his friends, lets him. He trusts Chan with his smartphone and honestly? Probably with his life (but not when it comes to winning bets and games).
Majoring in zoology, Minho enjoys his university life in his third semester. He loves animals and animals love him. Additionally, he is also a passionate member of the dance studio near campus, where he has a job as an assistant instructor. He’s usually found with Hyunjin and Felix. They’re well known in the archery club as well, although the three recently quit that one. Minho has quite some work on his plate and he may complain sometimes but ultimately loves what he does.
A text message pops up. “Hey, Minho, Jisung just send multiple crying emojis and says sorry, please forgive him in all caps. He asks if you wanna please go get coffee after classes with him. He used… a clown emoji? Uh, yeah…”
Looking up, Minho lets go of his chokehold on Changbin next to him. The younger breathes in relief, cheeks red like the tomatoes on his plate as he massages his abused neck and fixes his messed-up hair.
“Tell him no,” Minho simply says as he digs back into his food.
“Anything else?”
“No.”
Changbin and Chan both look at him with mild surprise for the cold response, wondering what Jisung has done but Chan chooses not to ask nor spy on the rest of the chat as he responds to Jisung in the notification bar without opening the chat. The three are silent as Chan types Minho’s response to Jisung. Changbin glances between his friends before settling on Minho, gaze highkey questioning.
A few minutes pass, Minho’s phone back on the table. Changbin keeps his imploring stare on Minho and moves a little closer.
Chan gives it a second.
Suddenly Minho puts down his chopsticks to glare at Changbin, “Okay, look. It’s not a big deal. This morning I texted Jisung if he’s still up for iced americano after classes today like we agreed to on Friday. He cancelled on me, so now I have plans with Hyunjin and Felix, and I’m not cancelling on them.”
Changbin looks a little triumphant that he got Minho to talk but suppresses his grin to listen to him seriously, “Why did Jisung change his mind? Dude went from yes to no to yes.”
Picking up his chopsticks again Minho scoffs, still glaring but the fire hasn’t really been directed at Changbin in the first place, “He said no, because apparently I’m ‘too clingy’ and he ‘wants some space’.”
Minho frowns down at his plate, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout. Looking so small like that, Chan and Changbin find themselves pouting with him. Minho’s voice becomes so quiet he almost mumbles the next part, “I didn’t really know how to react to that, so I just send an okay. Now he’s sorry apparently. He really is a clown. He should use that emoji in every message to remind everyone he texts with.” He roughly stuffs some food in his mouth with a frown. “Fucking clown.”
“Hm,” Chan says after a moment and nods in understanding, “Fair enough, I understand you.”
“Yeah, but why did he call you clingy?” Changbin tilts his head, glancing at Chan before looking at Minho, “It was never a problem, you guys hang out all the time. If anything, all of us are kinda clingy with each other in some way, which isn’t bad. I think.”
Minho shrugs and his calm and confident demeanour slowly comes back. He genuinely does not seem that bothered over it anymore, but who knows (Chan knows).
“It isn’t. Hyunjin and Felix wanted me to go to the convenience store with them before dance practice anyway. Jisung can have his space.” He focuses back on finishing his lunch and takes his phone back to look at the time, “Shit, I gotta go. I got a laboratory course in 10 minutes on the other end of campus and the prof doesn’t let anyone late in.” With that Minho shovels the rest of his food down and then picks up his tray to put away, rushing for his next class. “See you at home!”
“Hyung,” Changbin addresses Chan, sounding distant and thoughtful as he watches Minho almost stumble when he exits the cafeteria, “Is this because of last night?”
“Probably.”
Changbin hums in response, still looking at the exit of the cafeteria where Minho disappeared through, “I know we always joke about Jisung and Minho liking each other but…” He sighs and averts his eyes from the exit to meet Chan’s confused expression, only to look down at his plate with a pout, “Whatever. It’ll be fine as always.”
Chan nods, a little unsure. They resume eating and chatting about other things.
Everyone seems to have become a little weird since last night, so he lets it slide for now. It’s weird enough that the Han Jisung has explicitly called the Lee Minho of all people clingy and asked for space. That has never happened before.
Chan frowns at his plate.
He hadn’t lied to Seungmin last night. He genuinely thinks whatever is going on right now, will pass soon enough. But he does notice a few things that might make it a little more complex. Either way, it’s long overdue that the… romantic tension… in their group bursts and will finally, hopefully, be taken care of. Chan is pretty confident in their friendship as eight, so whatever happens shall happen.
They finish their lunch and when they meet Jisung later in the hallway and he immediately asks whether Minho is mad at him, they say no.